The Roaring Brook Nature Center is going to sparkle. BOB BLOOM is trucking a colorful cargo of drums for you to get your hands on at this interactive music hoot. You'll take a drum ride with BB as he drives the highest octane songs that Canton, Connecticut has ever heard.

In 1997, Bob Bloom received certification as a "Master Teaching Artist" from The Connecticut Office of the Arts. His participatory performances have been presented by The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, The Mark Twain Museum, OpSail, and The First Night Celebrations of Hartford, Boston, Providence, Bridgeport, Mystic and Westport.

A percentage of the pizza sales supports the Nature Center. Bring your friends, bring your family for dinner at Flatbread’s at The Shoppes at the Farmington Valley.

Saturday
May 3rd
Time TBD

Save the Date! Family Raptor Day

Plans are in the works for a fun day with the Roaring Brook Nature Center birds of prey.

Join us with special guest, children and nature author/illustrator, Jim Aronsky, for a day of children and adult programing featuring the Roaring Brook birds of prey. Jim Arnosky’s books will be available for sale at the event.

Some activities may require preregistration.

Check back for more information on this event....

Saturday
May 24

30-minute talk at 1 pm

90-minute walking tour beginning at 1:30 pm

In case of overflow crowds,
a second 60-minute tour
will begin at 3 pm

Hunt for Wild Common Milkweed with
naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill

Cn Saturday, May 24, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill America's go-to guy for foraging, will lead one of his world-famous foraging tours at the Nature Center . This hike will feature mid-spring foraging at its best. From the onset, we'll find herbs and greens such as chickweed, lamb's-quarters, violets, field garlic, and daylilies, in sunny, open areas, and partially shaded spots. In the woods behind the nature center, we'll look for pungent garlic mustard, root beer-flavored sassafras, and spicy ramps.

Flavorful common milkweed, yarrow, and mullein may be growing in fields, while Asiatic dayflower, pokeweed, and greenbriar, also delicious, may be coming up along the edges of trails and woods.

Naturalist-Author "Wildman" Steve Brill has been leading foraging tours in parks throughout the Greater NY area since 1982. His Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Places (William Morrow Publishers, 1994) is considered a classic on the subject, his innovative Wild Vegetarian Cookbook (Harvard Common Press, April, 2002) is changing the way people think of preparing gourmet food, his Shoots and Greens of Early Spring in Northeastern North America (self-published, 1986 and 2008) teaches people how the foraging season begins, his Foraging With the "Wildman" DVD series is showing people how it's all done, and his Wild Edibles app is the best of its kind for hand-held devices.

But he's still best known for having been handcuffed and arrested by undercover park rangers for eating a dandelion in Central Park! To learn more, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com.

The 30-minute talk begins at the Nature Center at 1 PM, on Saturday, May 24, followed by a 90-minute walking tour beginning at 1:30 PM. In case of overflow crowds, a second 60-minute tour will begin at 3 PM.

The fee is $20 at the door, $15 with advance registration. Please call (860) 693-0263 to sign up.

Exhibits - Special Project

NEW RAPTOR CAGES PLANNED
FOR THE NATURE CENTER

In 2013 the Nature Center and
the Friends of the Roaring Brook
will be holding a variety of fundraisers to support the construction of new raptor cages
for our wonderful resident and rehabilitating birds.

Stay tuned to learn more about
the upcoming events...

Call the Nature Center if you want
to help with this project or
the fundraisers.

Interested in learning more about our local wild areas? Join our new Werner Woods Rangers. Each month we will examine a different topic such as the importance of native plants; how to make and monitor bluebird houses; how to read animal tracks; tree identification; and invasive plant removal. Attendees of four or more of these programs will receive a Werner Woods Ranger certificate and your own Werner Wood Trail Guide.

Each session will include a talk, a hike, and a project.

October 6: Alien Invaders in Your Woods!

November 3: Trail Orienteering & Maintenance

December 1: Bird Watching & Feeding 101

January 5: Living with Wildlife

February 2: Animal Tracking

March 2: Bluebird Houses

April 6: Fledglings, Nestlings and Orphans

May 4: Native Plants for Native Animals

Suitable for adults and children age 8 and up.

Cost: $4 per attendee, $15 per family.

Pre-registration is required.

Learn what it takes to manage
your own Nature Center
in your own backyard.

Our annual demonstration teaches you how to make maple syrup the easy way. We’ll cover the entire process from identifying the tree to the best part – tasting the final product.

Cost: $4.00 members; $6.00 nonmembers; children half-price.

Pre-registration is not required.

Sunday
March 23rd
2:00 pm

DRUMMING ABOUT YOU with Bob Bloom

The Roaring Brook Nature Center is going to sparkle. BOB BLOOM is trucking a colorful cargo of drums for you to get your hands on at this interactive music hoot. You'll take a drum ride with BB as he drives the highest octane songs that Canton, Connecticut has ever heard.

In 1997, Bob Bloom received certification as a "Master Teaching Artist" from The Connecticut Office of the Arts. His participatory performances have been presented by The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, The Mark Twain Museum, OpSail, and The First Night Celebrations of Hartford, Boston, Providence, Bridgeport, Mystic and Westport.

Spring is the season of eggs – bird eggs, frog eggs, turtle eggs, fish eggs! Help us find them and learn about the animals that laid them. We have scattered eggs around the trail and inside the Nature Center for you to find. Stop in the Nature Center Store to pick up your Scavenger Hunt card. Find out who laid all the eggs and collect a small prize.

Scavenger Hunt Map will be sold in Nature Center Store for $2.00 plus admission to the Nature Center.

No need to preregister.

Donations appreciated.

Saturdays
April 26th
May 3rd
May 17th
7:00 am - 9:00 am

Weekend Bird Walks

An early morning walk through Werner’s Woods provides welcome sights and sounds for beginning birders as well as those with more experience in the field.

Bird walks are
not geared for younger children. Bring binoculars and dress for wet ground underfoot.

Cost: $3 members; $6 nonmembers. Pre-registration is not required.

Thursday
May 8th
7:00 pm

Wonderful Woodland Wildflowers

Connecticut has a myriad of spring wildflowers. Find out why they bloom in the spring, where to find them, how they got their names and what makes these plants so special.

Join us for a special lecture by Margery Winters, RBNC Assistant Director.

Cost: $3 members, $6 nonmembers. Preregistration requested.

MOTHER'S DAY
Sunday
May 11th
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Annual Mother's Day Wildflower Walk

Join us on this guided walk through our woods and our native plant gardens looking for wildflowers.

Registration now for our upcoming Discovery Days programs, the Nature Center’s enrichment series for children. Four week programs are offered for pre-schoolers and a parent, for students in kindergarten and kindergarten readiness programs and for students in grades Pre-K through Grade 5.

Click here to learn more about Exploring Together programs for ages 3 - 5

Click here to learn more about Explorations! programs for students K- Grade 2

Click here to learn more about
Wild Child! programs for students Grade 3 - 5

Register by mail or in person during regular Nature Center hours.
For a printable form, click here.

Various class times & dates

Home School Classes

Join us at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, as we utilize the wonders of our woods, fields, and streams to observe and explore nature. Each class will investigate a different topic around a central theme, complete with hands on experiments and plenty of time outdoors. Classes comply with CT State Science Standards for grades preK-2.

Our Home School experience is geared to children ages 5-8with an adult and class sizes are limited. All dates are subject to change.

Frozen February - February 6, 13 & 20 PREREGISTER by February 3Class from 10 - 11:30 am
Explore the impact of winter weather on the natural workd. We will examine snow and ice, animal adaptations and survival, and track animal movement in the snow.

Spring in the Woods - Thursday April 10, 17 & 24 PREREGISTER by April 8Class from 1 - 2:30 pm

Adventure Story Time for children ages 2-5 will be held on selected Mondays each month from 1:00-2:00 pm.

Adults and children can participate in a shared story with a craft and short walk.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

There is a charge of $2/child with a maximum $5 per family.

Please call the Nature Center to register. Pre-registration is requested.

SUMMER 2014 DISCOVERY PROGRAMS

Roaring Brook Nature Center's “SUMMER 2014” Discovery Programs offer your child a unique blend of education and recreation that takes advantage of the curiosity and sense of wonder that all children feel toward the natural world.

Thank you! All of the programs are fantastic & you make them the BEST.
People here are top notch.

- Parent of student attending Summer 2013 Discovery Days program

Guided Nature Walks

Nature Walks

During July and August, group nature walks may be scheduled by individuals, families or by organized groups on selected weekday afternoons. Walks may be general or may focus on a specific topic of interest. Call the Nature Center for additional information.

The Werner Woods trails are open year-round for self-guided tours. Trail guide books are available in the Nature Center store for $2.00.

During the school year, the Nature Center offers birthday parties on Saturdays (morning parties from 10:30 AM-12:30 PM, afternoon parties from 1:30-3:30 PM) and on selected weekday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

During July and August, the Nature Center will offer birthday parties on selected weekday afternoons from 1:30 – 3:30 PM. (Please note that birthday party availability is subject to the Nature Center’s summer program schedule of classes and public events).

Parties include a live animal demonstration, nature walk, and use of our auditorium for holding the party. Cost of a party is $150 for members, $175 for nonmembers.

For more information, click here. To make a reservation call the Center at (860) 693-0263.

Sunday
before Thanksgiving
November 23rd, 2014
Noon - 4:00 pm

Holiday Craft Fair

CALLING ALL CRAFTERS!Are you interested in being a part of our 2013 Holiday Craft Fair? We welcome vendors who have produced hand-made gifts and/or natural products to sell as 'gifts' during the holiday season.

Leaders of Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Girl Scout Troops, as well as Cub Scout Troops, will find that numerous badge requirements may be fulfilled by a visit to Roaring Brook Nature Center. To learn more, click here.